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The evolutionary British rock band Queen will always be remembered for its theatrical performances, musical diversity and extravagant characteristics. Queen cleverly fused 70s glam, hard rock, heavy metal and progressive rock. Throughout their career, the band had a total of eighteen number one albums and seventeen number one singles. Original members of the band include Freddie Mercury (vocals, piano, synthesizer), John Deacon (bass, rhythm guitar, synthesizer), Brian May (Guitar, piano, vocals), Roger Taylor (drums, percussion, vocals).

Queen’s roots of origin l Continued...

ie in the formation of the band Smile. Brian May and Roger Taylor had formed this semi-professional band in 1968 along with friend Tim Staffell (Mercury’s roommate). Staffell’s departure from the band caused May and Taylor to want to split up until Mercury persuaded them to continue under the name Queen. John Deacon joined in 1971 and began rehearsing for their first album.

Queen was released in 1973 but failed to receive much attention until their breakthrough album Queen II a year later. The second album reached number 5 on the British album charts due to its first hit single “Seven Seas of Rhye”. The band soon began touring the United States with Matt the Hoople winning over the crowds with their dramatic performances. The third album, Sheer Heart Attack, combined a variety of different types of music (British music hall, heavy metal, ragtime, Caribbean) generating great success in the UK, Europe and the US. The popular single “Killer Queen” peaked at number two on the UK charts and number 11 in the US.

Critics considered 1975s A Night at the Opera to be their greatest endeavor. “Bohemian Rhapsody” was the album’s biggest hit attaining worldwide success. The song truly captures the essence of the band’s effort and dedication as it took three weeks to record due to all the vocal overdubbing. The single originally reached number 9 in the UK and US when first released, then later peaked at number 5 in the UK and number 2 in the US when re-released on the Wayne’s World soundtrack in 1992. The success of the song marked the beginning of Queen’s superstardom status. A year later the group set an attendance record of close to 180 000 people at their Hyde Park concert in London.

Queen’s 1977 album News of the World was recognized as the most influential in creating stadium rock. Most of the songs off this record were meant to be performed live such as “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions”. Despite the success of their following album, Jazz in 1978, it was often criticized for its vast assortment of styles, jazz not being one of them. The hit singles “Fat Bottomed Girls” and “Bicycle Race” gained much attention due to rumored media stunts of staging nude female bicycle races.

Their highest selling and most successful album was The Game in 1980. This album introduced a new sound to the band with its use of synthesizers. The Game featured the rockabilly hit “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” along with the disco inspired “Another One Bites the Dust”. The success of the latter encouraged the band to focus their next album, Hot Space, on disco and funk. Sadly this album was a great disappointment and considered one of their worst. Their 1984 album The Works proved to be a comeback with hits combining rock and pop such as “Radio Ga Ga” and “I Want to Break Free”.
Due to a decreasing fan base in the United States and the UK, the band began touring Latin America. However, they eventually wooed audiences at the Live Aid concert at Wembley in 1985 playing their greatest hits. The following year, they released A Kind Of Magic which only fared well in Europe. The same reaction was experienced with 1989’s The Miracle. It was not until the release of Innuendo in 1991, that Queen was able to stir some more action in the US. However, the word was circulating regarding Freddie Mercury’s health. On November 23, he issued a statement confirming that he was suffering from AIDS. He passed away 24 hours after his announcement.

On April 20, 1992, The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert was held at Wembley Stadium in his honor. Musicians such as Guns N’ Roses, Metallica, David Bowie, Elton John, George Michael, Robert Plant, Annie Lennox and Def Leppard performed Queen’s major hits raising £19 960 000 for AIDS charities. Queen’s remaining members got together in 1994 to record backing tapes for Mercury’s vocal tracks recorded on his death bed. Made in Heaven was released in 1995 gaining strong sales but mixed reviews. The Queen name was revived in 2005 as “Queen and Paul Rodgers”. The band is made of original members Brian May and Roger Taylor along with former lead singer of Free and Bad Company. Return of Champions was released in 2005 and documents some of their live shows.